Ravi Shankar was a national treasure: PM

New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) Pandit Ravi Shankar was a global ambassador of India's cultural heritage and a national treasure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Wednesday while condoling the death of the sitar maestro in a San Diego hospital.

"An era has passed away with Pt. Ravishankar. The nation joins me to pay tributes to his unsurpassable genius, his art and his humility," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a message on micro-blogging site Twitter.

"A national treasure and global ambassador of India's cultural heritage," it added.

Pandit Ravi Shankar, one of India's best known musicians, died in San Diego Tuesday. He was 92.